NHS England is considering a trio of changes to the Cancer Drugs Fund, including, for the first time, taking a medicine’s price tag into consideration when determining whether it should be included or not.

The group has now launched a four-week public consultation to gauge opinion on three proposals to modify the way the CDF operates: a re-evaluation process so that drugs offering the lowest level of clinical benefit can be removed from the list; a confidential element to assess a drug’s cost versus its clinical benefit; and a new option enabling pharma companies to adjust prices to allow their drug/indication to remain in the CDF.

So that the CDF “continues to offer maximum benefit to patients within its budget, i.e. offer drugs with the greatest clinical benefit at appropriate costs, it requires a degree of change in the way it operates, in order that it can better meet the demand for new drugs,” NHS England said, noting that the Fund “is now facing growing financial pressure”.

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